Day 244: Almond Crumble Twist

I've had this bread recipe for years, and I look at it all the time, but I've never made it until now.  I was a little intimidated by the twist part of the recipe.  It looks so complicated to make, but is really very easy.  This came from a taste of home magazine.

Almond Crumble Twist
10" dutch oven

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped slivered almonds
1 loaf bread dough  (Rhoade's works great)

Browned Butter Icing

2 Tbs. butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbs. milk
1/4 tsp. almond extract

In a small bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Beat in flour, almond extract and cinnamon until smooth.  Stir in almonds.  Cover and chill 30 minutes.
Spray your work surface with nonstick cooking spray.  Roll out the bread dough into a 15 in. x 10 in. rectangle.  Cover with a towel and let rest while almond mixture is chilling.
Remove towel and sprinkle filling evenly over the dough within 1 inch of all edges.  Roll up tightly, jelly roll style, starting with the long side.  With a sharp serrated knife, cut roll in half lengthwise.  Turn each half so the cut side is facing up.  Carefully twist halves together so cut sides can be seen.  Form into a ring and pinch the ends together.  Place in your greased dutch oven.  Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool slightly on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, lightly brown butter in a small dutch oven over a full spread of coals.  Do not burn.  Remove from heat and blend in confectioners sugar, milk and almond extract until it is smooth.  Drizzle over warm loaf.

The Finished Product

The Review

Oooh!   This was good!  The almonds gave it a nice crunch, and it just had great flavor.  Someone in my house kept sneaking little pieces until there was almost nothing left.   I will definitely be making this again.  I used homemade bread dough, but it would be really fast using frozen dough.  I'm thinking this would be nice for a Sunday morning brunch.  This gets an A.